Portal Runner

Portal runner created by 3DO expands on the universe of the Army Men series.  You get to play Vikki G. ace reporter and all American (and scantily clad) sweet heart of Sarge and daughter of General Green.  The conflict arises when the all powerful...well moderately powerful, and mightily busty Brigitte Bleu traps Vikki in another dimension, intent on having Sarge as her husband.

At first my friend exclaimed, "This looks like MDK2 for 10 year old girls!" but after a short game we realized it was probably meant for 12 year old girls.... That’s not however to say it’s not a game for everyone.  It’s just not quite as edgy or dark or gore filled as the games we're use to playing.  The gameplay was solid and almost identical to MDK2.  Rotatable camera angles, a variety of weapons (albeit they're all arrows), and a good mix of puzzles and action made this game entertaining....in an Archie Comics sort of way.

The graphics were well done.  The backgrounds were so engaging that Vikki sometimes stopped to take pictures of them.  Unfortunately I did occasionally notice the plague of third person polygon games, the 2-dimensional object.  It didn't affect gameplay but it was a little disappointing.  Perhaps more disappointing was a graphical error that made the polygons not quite show what the game thought was there e.g. I fired an arrow but it hit an invisible wall which I could only assume was an extension of the vegetation I was near.  The numerous FMVs more than made up for these minor errors, while they fleshed out the story and helped maintain an almost comic book atmosphere.  The many voiceovers helped give personality to the characters while the music seemed more of an accompaniment to the levels rather than an active element.

While the game itself was complete, the multiplayer aspect was a bit weak.  Call me old fashioned but chasing somebody with a gun and mowing them down is just more fun than "tagging" (the games euphemism for a kill) them with arrows...even if they do explode…the arrows I mean;)

Portal runner is a mindless fun game.  While there are puzzles and objectives it is not a game that keeps you begging for more.  Its a standby, a game that you can go back to over and over again forever questing for the perfect game, and yet not one that will keep you up at night.

Install: Easy

Gameplay: 7
Camera adjustments could become annoying at times and I often found myself looking for a little more freedom with them but over all a good engine.

Graphics: 7 
I was impressed by some of the levels and backgrounds but it was in the little things that the game let me down.  Oh and the FMVs are great:)

Sound: 8
"Try to drop that pig on that castle" 'Nuff said.

Difficulty: 9
A very good mix of puzzle, action and platform jumping kept the game challenging without making it frustrating.  The difficulty level was pretty ideal.

Concept: 8 
A concept right out of a comic book twisted and molded into an army man world.  However while definitely not a clone of MDK2 it bases itself on a very similar engine and so looses points in originality.

Multiplayer: 5
Despite harder music, the ability to play a busty villain, and huge levels, the multiplayer aspect just couldn't get my adrenaline pumping.  And calling a kill a “tag” was just a little too kid friendly for me.

Overall: 7.5
You get to drop a pig on a castle.  Who could ask for anything more?